tasting freedom for the first time in two years as they are flown out of that country and the president just wrapping up his big speech to the united nations. good morning to you, i'm jon scott. jenna: it is a big day and many developing stories. we're glad you're with us, everybody. i'm jenna lee, in the fox news room and on this busy day, the president applicably pushing for the palestinians to drop a bid for statehood during his address to the general assembly just moments ago. jon: right now, he is gearing up for more meetings on the middle east, sitting down separately with israeli and palestinian leaders to try to jumpstart direct peace talks. jenna: senior white house correspondent wendell goler is live in our new york city newsroom with more. hi wendell. >> reporter: hi jenna. the president didn't say it but the aides have made clear the u.s. will veto the palestinian bid for recognition if it comes to that. really the goal of this entire week here at the united nations is to make sure it doesn't come to

that. the president meeting with the leaders of israel and palestinian president abbas, also with the leaders of britain and france, to try and come up with a way to keep abbas from petitioning for membership on friday. we're hearing if he does, they may refer that to a commito for study that could take months, while the u.s., u.n., russia, try and get israel and the palestinian toss once again resolve the tough issues that divide them. the president made clear in his speech the united nations can't do that. here's a bit of what he had to say: >> peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the united nations. if it were that easy it would have been accomplished by now. ultimately, it is the raelis and the palestinians who must live side by side. ultimately, as the israelis and the palestinian -- it is the israelis and palestinians, not us, who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them.

>> reporter: critics say the president laid the ground work for this dilemma last year when in his speech he said that it would be possible for the israelis and the palestinian toss resolve these tough issues in time for the palestinians to be recognized at this year's general assembly session opening, obviously -- opening. obviously, that didn't happen. jenna: nice to have you here in the new york city newsroom. we usually talk to you in d.c.! good to have you home. wendel, thank you very much. jon: for more on today's other news, the two americans held by iran for two years are free, they are on board a plane head fog oman. let's bring in john bolton, former ambassador to the united nations and fox news contributor. give us the big picture here, mr. ambassador. you know a lot about how the iranians think when the u.n. general assembly is convening and mahmoud ahmadinejad is set to address this body, all of

the sudden the two bodies are freed. why? >> what a coincidence, an amazing coincidence. obviously this is something that ahmadinejad has had in mind, he hinted in it in interviews over the past two weeks and it's intended to give him a propaganda boost to show his good will and humanitarian nature as he addresses the u.n. *pb and doesis his best for the iranian charm offensive during his stay in new york. look, these two people should have been released within a few days after they were picked up, 2 1/2 years ago, along the iran-iraq border, they didn't do anything wrong, they got lost, they were used for political purposes, it was very callous, very political, so while we should be certainly happy they've been released, this is nothing but propaganda on the part of the iranian government. >> and we understand that the bail of half a million dollars each, so a total of a million dollars, was paid to the iranians, apparently by the omanis. in international terms, that is kind of a drop in the bucket, but still, to enrich that government by a million bucks, for illegally holding

a couple of americans, it seems like the height of outrage. >> yeah, i wouldn't give them air to breathe, myself, and it's the sort of thing that contradicts a long-held bipartisan american policy that we don't pay ransom for hostages. it's a hard policy to pursue, but we don't want to give incentives to hostage takers or terrorists to do it again. jon: so what has ahmadinejad gotten out of this? i mean, he did get sort of slapped down by his own judiciary, right? >> well, there is an internal conflict inside iran between ahmadinejad, the revolutionary guard, some of the theological leaders. nobody should take much comfort from this, though. this is not the clash between moderates and hardliners that people are always looking for. this is a clash between the hardliners and the hard line hardliners, and ahmadinejad ultimately prevailed, he got his p.r. boost, and he's onward and upward here in new york. jon: so he gets to come here as the hero in a way. >> what a humanitarian,

right? >> jon: ambassador john bolton, formerly ambassador to the u.n. and fox news contributor, thanks. >> thank you. jenna: with the hiker story, before we move on, we have no condition what -- no condition that these two men are in, their family has not been able to see them. while we celebrate the news they are released, until they are home and evaluated, there's a lot more we'll have to continue to explore. let's move on to business news, several big bombshells on the economy today. first the international monetary fund, the imf, warning the global financial system is more vulnerable right now than at any point since the 2008 financial meltdown and just a few minutes ago we learned home sales jumped nearly 8 percent last month. it sounds like good news, to see a positive number, but we have to add context here. the sales are up because foreclosures rose, and median sales prices fell 5 percent, so when we're searching for that bottom, that housing price bottom, this is another indication

that perhaps we're not there yet. in the meantime, a survey of 100 economists suggesting a weak u.s. economy will depress housing prices for years, pushing homeowners into foreclosures. they're calling it a lost decade in housing. we have to lot to talk about with austan goolsbee, former chain -- chairman of the council of economic advisers. we see for the first time -- how is life as a free man, austan, away from the white house? >> man, it's great! it's like paradise over here. jenna: we see your face here! i have to ask you something, starting off first of all with that headline from the imf, the most vulnerable, than at any point since 2008. do you agree with that? >> yeah, you know, unfortunately, i think i do agree with that. it's a bit of a scary moment. for most of that, in my view, is you look over europe, and they got a mess over there. they didn't -- the first time around, they didn't deal with their banking

system and recapitalizing their banks the way we did here. and now, with greece and with some of the contagious fears on spain and italy, i mean, they're in a bit of a tough spot. jenna: are you concerned that -- >> that is going to rebound on us. we're going to have to deal with it. jenna: sorry to interrupt there. are you concerned about that contag or spreading to our -- contagion spreading to you are banks in any way? >> i hoped it wouldn't be like in 2008 but if they have a real meltdown in europe, it's going to affect us negatively. i mean, it doesn't have to be catastrophic. but it's not going to be positive. jenna: you know, i was struck by something that the president said moments ago when he shifted away from international news, to the economy, which he pointed out is international news because of the interconnected nature of the global economy. he said this, we acted together to avert a depression in 2009, we must take urgent and coordinated action once more. he mentioned his own plan

domestically but is he referring to any other plan globally, is there anything going on maybe behind the scenes between central bankers, perhaps, to try to avert another dip into a recession? >> you know, i'm not sure if he was referring to anything specific, but i mean, if you look at what's happening in europe, i think you've got to -- the whole world, the u.s., countries of asia and a lot of the european countries themselves will look at it and say look, come on, you guys have got to deal with this before it blows up and affects everybody in a bad way. jenna: we had the meeting of the federal reserve today, austan, and there have obviously been rumors throughout the market they may take efforts, central bankers, to achieve interest rateso to keep interest rates low for long term loans. is this a good idea, will this help the economy, help job growth? >> i think it is a good idea. the unemployment rate is nine parts and there's no sign -- 9 percent and there's no sign of inflation. in any normal period you would be expecting the central bank in a situation like that to be trying to

help get the economy going. the problem here is interest rates are already so low, their ability to do anything dramatic i think is pretty limited. but i think if they do that, it does seem like a good idea. jenna: we didn't even get to the president's jobs plan and i'm getting a wrap. this is the first time back. it's upsetting to me, austan >> what are you going to do, once you're out of government, nobody wants to talk to you. jenna: you get shorter segment, that's what happens! austan, we hope you're around, we'll be talking soon enough, austan, thank you. >> thank you. jon: let's talk a little politics right now, republican presidential candidates are gearing up for tomorrow night's huge debate. fox news and google are partnering to host it, from orlando, florida, bret baier will be the moderator, he'll be joined by our own megyn kelly and chris wallace. meanwhile, rick perry's campaign just released an aggressive new campaign ad.

>> zero jobs. >> not a single job. >> no jobs created. >> people are demoralized. what has happened? >> zero new jobs. >> zero. >> 50 million americans are living in poverty. >> one out of six americans. >> headed in the wrong direction. jon: let's talk about that with chris stierwalt, fox news digital politics editor and host of "power play" on foxnews.com, live. chris, sometimes when candidates want to appear to be sort of above the fray, you go straight for the guy who represents the other paefrplt that seems to be what rick perry is doing here. >> werblgs that's right. jon, when mitt romney was the stand-alone frontrunner before perry got into the race he tried to focus his energies on barack obama, now that perry is at the lead he's trying to make himself more presidential

and put himself on the level of pw*pbl. the other thing that's important and this is why it matters so much for our debate on thursday, what republicans want to see more than anything else, they want to see somebody who can be tough with obama, go hard against an incumbent president who is weakened right now, and perry's ad essentially tries to make that case. it's like a movie trailer, all that's missing is an explosion and you got the fast and furious. jon: there is new polling out from mcclatchy-marist saying a plurality, a majority voters, believes this president will lose to any republican, any of the nine people who are up on that stage tomorrow night, or there could yet be another entry or two into the race. >> well, right. you know, the most discouraging thing for the obama team is they look at those numbers from the marist poll are this, 52 percent, 53 percent of independents say that they're not voting for the president. that's very dire. jon: and you have to have the independents to win the presidential race.

>> they get to decide. every presidential election. and last time, barack obama won them by a larger margin than any democrat in recent history. those folks snapped hard against him in 2010, now they've stayed on the republican side, they will not vote for barack obama right now, and the point that you see when you look at the polls, almost any republican can be viable against barack obama right now. now, we don't know what that's going to be like in november 2012 but right now almost any republican looks be viable just because people are so desperate for a change. jon: chris, it's a gray and dreary day in the northeast. florida looks pretty good behind you! >> thank you. jon: chris stierwalt, thank you. you can hear from chris on the web at the bottom of the web, he'll be hosting "power play" from florida, may i add, on foxnews.com. this thursday's fox news-google tkae bait in florida will be live across all platforms, fox news channel on your television set, foxnews.com, on the computer, youtube as well on the computer, and fox news mobile and fox news radio,

no excuse to miss this thing, it's going to be a very important event, everybody in the country should take the time to tune in, right jenna? >> jenna: absolutely. we're going to be tuning in, right? >> jon: you know it. jenna: it's part of our job, we have to. by the way the president is behind closed doors, meeting with israeli president netanyahu. in the meantime, a couple on vacation in yellowstoneat park brutally attacked by a grizzly bear. what may have triggered that attack and the chilling 911 tape, just ahead. >> the attacker is yelling for help. >> all i can hear is the lady's voice. there was a man as well, so i'm worried the man may be injured. i'm a trauma surgeon so i can actually give this person medical assistance but only if you guys say we should go in. >> if you feel like you're in a safe spot, stay there. of course, if you feel you're in danger, leave.

martha: -- jenna: and this fox news alert, we welcome you back, everybody, the president meeting with the israeli prime minister benjamin neither use hoo at the u.n., this as the palestinians push for statehood. the president has a meeting with the palestinians later on today. rick grinnell is former spokesman for the last four u.s. ambassadors to the u.n. *pb and he joins us now. so rick, i'm going to go ahead and play some sound from the president as he was on -- i don't want to say a long explanation, but trying to describe the situation between the israels -- between the palestinians and israel. here's one part we felt summed up his message today. let's go ahead and play that: >> it is precisely because we believe so strongly in the aspirations of the palestinian people that america has invested so much time and so much effort in the building of a palestinian state. >> and the negotiations that can deliver a palestinian state. but understand this as well.

america's commitment to israel's security is unshakable. our friendship with israel is deep. and enduring. jenna: rick? strong enough message? clear enough message as to where the united states stands? >> i think it's a different message. if you look at what the president said today and what the president said last year, in advertise annual u.n. speech, i think israel supporters and republicans are going to be left to wonder which president are we listening to. you look at the cairo speech that the president delivered several years ago and last year's speech, it's completely different than what he's saying now, and it's no wonder that people are not -- that people are confused. israelis are confused, americans are confused and the arabs are confused. this summer, susan rice at the u.n. spent a whole bunch of time negotiating with the arabs on a resolution to talk about settlements and pre-1967 borders. now, that is a message that

you send to the arabs that the united states is going it make some sort of unilateral declaration and it's no wonder that the israelis are confused. the president here at home is under a lot of pressure, political pressure, to change his tune, and today, he went to the u.n. and completely came out in favor of the israelis and saying that our relationship with the israelis is strong. that's the right message, but it's a different message than what we've been seeing for the last 2 1/2 years. jenna: we mentioned the president meeting with the israeli prime minister right now. he's going to be meeting with mahmoud abbas, representing the palestinians a little later on today. what do you think is key in this conversation? can anything be accomplished today that would change this man, the palestinian president, from going to the u.n. on friday and asking for recognition of statehood? >> i don't think anything is going to change, because the partner that we're looking at, the palestinian government, is a unity government with hamas. and hamas is a known terrorist organization. we have characterized hamas

as a terrorist organization. but yet, they are a part of the palestinian government. how can we say that we are going to recognize this government, at the same time, parts of the government we're calling a terrorist organization? it just doesn't make sense. this administration has not worked very hard. i want to point out one thing that's really interesting. the only thing that the u.n. understands is money. and yesterday, we had the presidential candidates talking about what we should do if the palestinians and the u.n. go ahead and recognize statehood. and mitt romney had a very interesting idea of not only pulling back the money from the u.n., but from any country that votes for a palestinian statehood. now, that's really interesting, because i think most governments will look at that and say there are going to be consequences if we go forward with this vote, and i think that's a message that the republicans in the house, and it's a

message the u.n. is going to hear. jenna: we got an alert from the associated press saying that netanyahu says the palestinian statehood is a shortcut and won't succeed. we'll see what plays out a few days later this week and in the months to come. rick, thank you very much for joining us. >> jon: so much news to cover domestically and internationally. in this country, a car explodes just outside detroit. this charred mess, leaving several people injured. rick folbaum has the latest on what's turning out to be a pretty strange story. new amateur video just coming out of syria where the brutal crackdown against protestors rages on, that from our international desk, just ahead.

>> a fox news alert, a car

explodes near detroit, it could be the result of a car bomb. authorities have an investigation underway, rick is working the story for us right now. rick. >> reporter: we usually hear about car bombs in places like iraq or afghanistan, but that's what investigators say they think went off last night, and let's take a look at some of the video we've got here on the ipad, this is monroe, michigan, the bomb exploding last night, leaving a man and two children inside the vehicle, in serious condition. now, monroe is about 20 miles outside of toledo, ohio, and you can see the blackened shell of what's left of that car after the explosion that went off on a street that was lined with trees. thankfully, not near any homes or businesses. police say their investigation right now in the very early stages, you can see the federal agents there as part of this right now, the atf is taking the lead on this. and as we get more information, we'll bring it to you. right now, though, they are saying a car bomb, going off in monroe, michigan. as we get more we'll pass it

on to you. jon: a man and two children hurt, is that right? >> a man and two children, they are in serious condition. jon: you can imagine, when you see what's left of that car. rick, thanks. jenna: new video is just crossing our international desk in the newsroom. this reportedly the scene in the holmes province in syria this is amateur video, apparently showing a group of students opposed to president assad coming under fire, activists say the students were taking part in a protest close to the border with lebanon when security forces shot at them. the uprising in syria began in march, and to date, the u.n. estimates some 2600 people have been killed in the regime's brutal crackdown on the protestors. jon: migrant workers, clashing with police on a tiny island off italy's south coast. dozens of tunisiaans held in an overcrowded detention center there, trying to

escape. police used night sticks in a fruitless effort to keep them from going over the wall, as you can see there. the fighting began after a peaceful protest with some 300 tunisians turned much more violent, the group marched through the street carrying banner, calling for freedom and liberty. reportedly they set the detention center on fire after learning of italy's plans for a fresh round of repatriations. skpwr*epb jen -- jenna: incidible -- incredible video. we've been talking about this fox news-google debate tomorrow night, this & case you forgot. we will be submitting your questions from our viewers. we've already seen a few of them, rick? is that right? we have maybe a few favorites picked out. but our viewers are going to pick the favorites, as well, to ask the candidates. >> reporter: elbow to youtube fox news to see the questions chosen and asked of the candidates tomorrow night in florida by bret baier and the gang. again, elbow to youtube/fox

news, scroll down here, you can see, these are the video questions, you can see which ones are the most popular, which ones are the hottest e. then you can actually go in. you can't post any new questions but you can weigh in on the questions that have been asked and let us know whether you think these questions are worthy of the candidates' answers tomorrow night. let's take a look at this one from robert: >> hi! my name is robert zubia from san fernando, california. my question for you today is how would you go about the issue regarding illegal work ers using tax credits to pocket $4.2 billion? thank you. >> reporter: so a very pointed question, and there's no shortage of them at youtube/fox news. i urge you to check it out and watch the debate tomorrow night. back to you. jenna: robert has a nice background, he's set up and

everything, like a studio. >> reporter: very patriotic. jenna: we have a lot of great viewers. as you mentioned, rick, anybody can go online and check out which ones might be asked, so the candidates might get a little heads up, get a little cheat sheet, right rick? >> >> reporter: maybe a little bit! they have to know the questions, anyway, they know what's important! jenna: they do. rick, thank you. jon: can't beat old glory for a backdrop as long as you're using it properly. there's new word the u.s. is expanding its drone operation. where the military is reportedly now trying to take out terrorists using these unmanned planes. that's straight ahead. plus, the muslim world's battle against extremists. it is now nearly three years since the deadly attacks in mumbai, ten years, of course, since 911. we'll take an in depth look at what muslim countries are doing to try to reign in terrorists around the globe.

jon: i'm in our acquisitions room here at fox news channel where we bring in hundreds of satellite feeds from all around on remote 217 the parade of world leaders continues at the united nations. gridlock all over the city from all the motorcades and all the traffic brought in by the u.n. there are the preps underway for the google-fox news debate

tomorrow. that is not michelle bachmann, that is one of our famous directors at fox who will be directing that debate tomorrow night. he's helping with the lighting and all of that stuff. big debate underway, you'll want to watch it tomorrow night for sure. jenna back to you. jenna: the u.s. is expanding its operations, its drone operations to eastern africa, part of an effort to take out suspected terrorists. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with more on the story. >> reporter: a senior u.s. military official confirms to fox that the military is in fact expanding its drone am pain to multiple bases in eastern africa and off the coast of the horn of africa to deal with the spread of al-qaida franchises in somalia and yemen. this official confirms that the program has been underway for over a year and that the s that

the say shells were added. the unmanned drones can be armed with missiles and 500-pound bombs. the bases were established while the u.s. military worked to receive permission from the ethiopians we are told. that was the base of choice from which to target the growing threat from al sphaeuz shababb. they warned of the shababb. >> al-qaida has emerged as the most dangerous regional node in the global jihad. they continue to plot strikes against our nation, u.s. interests worldwide and our allies. >> reporter: fox news has also learned that the u.s. military is building another runway in saudi arabia to deal with the

drones and they will be used to strike at yemen. jenna: as we go back to the beginning of your report, one of the things you mentioned there was a little bit of hopping and skipping away from ethiopia because the government did not get permission to put a drone base there. do we now have permission? have there been developments? why is that important? >> reporter: it's our understanding that there is permission and that they are beginning to set up a base in ethiopia, but the other significant development is that the sayshels says the drones can be armed. they are sending armed drones back there in the network of drone bases. jenna: thank you. jon: while the mideast dominates the news today out of the united nations we wanted to take a closer look at the muslim world, specifically what they are doing to fight extremism around the

world. let's talk about it with michael o apz hanlan, he joins us now. you and a co-author wrote and op-ed piece about this. you said despite what we might perceive on this issue there is a significant amount of effort being made by some muslim countries to stop extremism. >> that's right. we don't want to go so far as to have a lot of happy talk, but the guy that i wrote with, who is a turk, we began with his country, turkey, which causes us a lot of diplomatic issues these days, but has actually made big headway at dealing with what you might call the root causes of terrorism, trying to establish a strong economy, trying to give a lot of educational opportunity for its youth. to have a muslim and islamic message but still a moderate message in most of its domestic

politics even though it's having issues with israel. you can look around the world and find a few other cases like that where the countries involved are making good, strong direct headway against terrorism in the short term or laying foundations for a more moderate, and forward leaning and economically prosperous society over the longer term or both. indonesia is a very good example, maybe the single best example and the world's largest muslim nation. it has made a huge headway at going after al-qaida and related elements in the short term but also building up a more tolerant kind of country and prosperous economy which is probably the best and the ta does. jon: so many countries like knees have been victims of terrorism themselves. saudi arabia is another one. the saudi government has a hornet'sness on its hands. you describe them as half friend, half problem, what do you mean by that? >> we all know that the saudis provide a lot of oil and the

saudis are a key to any hope for a middle east peace process. on the other hand the saudis tolerate a form of is team s u.n. ni islam, which preaches intolerance and even condones violence and may have had a hand in motivating many of the al-qaida movements over the years. now the saudis have got even better to try to moderate that sect and try to balance the way they teach islam in their own country but they still have a ways to go and they have a very unusual form of government which is a far cry from anything we would recognize or support in our system of democracy. i'm not going to say that the saudis are doing great. they clamped down on the short term threat. they cooperated with us. your previous report talked about cooperating with regard to yemen, that is a good example. even though there are complexities, i think it's inching along in the right direction.

jon: what about egypt? where is that country headed. >> of course, the short answer is, no one knows, but the broader answer is it's been a very inspirational year in egypt. yes there will be setbacks like the one you just mentioned. the way the peaceful crowds game together in tahrir square and pushed hosni mubarak out of power i think is positive. jon: a positive review, generally of the way muslim countries are headed, michael, thank you. >> my pleasure, thank you. jenna: a 300-pound bear looking for a snack causing a scare in one suburban neighborhood. where the bear was spotted and why it had so many people a little concerned. plus the whose who of the nation's wealthy. the forbes magazine releasing the list of the most richest people.

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jenna: nato air strikes pounding moammar qaddafi's town in libya, while revolutionary forces are under rocket fire. despite this continued fighting, libya's new leaders say a new government will be formed within a week and a half or so. the pardons board in georgia refusing to reconsider its decision on the troy davis execution. it voted earlier not to spare the life of this convicted cop killer. his lawyers have long argued davis is a victim of mistaken identity. his execution, though, is set for later today. and this is our most recent video of what we think are the newly freed u.s. hikers driving

away from that prison in iran. we have reports that they flew out of iran after being detained there for more than two years. we are tracking this developing story. as we get brand-new video we will bring that to you. jon: we are also getting new information and new 911 tapes reporting from a brutal grizzly bear attack inside yellowstone national park. >> reporter: imagine you hearing horrifying screams coming from a few you hundred yards away. that was the experience for the man whose voice you're going to hear in the 911 call he placed. he made the call after hearing the cries of brian and marlin mattayoshie after being attacked by a bear. >> we are east of the trail and we heard it ahead of us. we saw a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs. it sounded like they were trying

to scare the bear. i heard a man making loud animal noises. it sounded like he was trying to scare the bear. a woman was screaming. >> do you think they were attacked or yelling for help. >> they were yelling for help. i'm a trauma surgeon, i can actually give this person medical assistance, only if you say we should go in. >> stay where you're at. if you feel ike you're in a safe spot stay there. if you feel you're in danger leave. >> reporter: that caller was right, the man was killed in fact. his wife was lifted up by the bear and dropped to the ground. she then laid still and the mama grizzly and her cubs went away. investigators at yellow stone said the couple may have triggered the attack by epl screaming and yelling as they ran from the bears rather than remaining still. bears turn up in the suburbs too.

take a look at this. a 300 or so black bear who eight his way through the trash behind a house in northern, new jersey, the homeowner taking the video. the police came and escorted kids off the school bus and into their homes before they chased the bay away. they chased the bear away, then the bear came back and they had to chase it away again. jon: they like the garbage. >> reporter: the woman said she will find a new place for her trash cans. jon: and make it lockable. jenna: a wise decision. new developments in the gun running scandal known to us as fast and furious. secret recordings shedding new light on the government program that put thousands of weapons in the hands of mexican drug cartels. we are live with that story. is it a yok joke or down right mean, a now study ug suggests social networking is spreading

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jon: fox news alert. we have new tape of what transpired at the meeting between israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and president obama. the two met immediately after the president spoke to the u.n. here is in benjamin netanyahu, he is thanking president obama for endorsing direct talks between palestinians and israelis and also thanking him for speaking out against any u.n. bid to decre a palestinian state all on its own. with mr. obama at his side the israeli prime minister saying the palestinian bid to appeal directly to the u.n. is a

short-cut that he says will not succeed. we'll keep an eye on these meetings, bring you any late-breaking developments. jenna: now to this. a disturbing new poll of young people making news today. it's an associated press mtv poll of 14 to 24 years old. it finds that most of these young adults shrug off language that many would find deeply, deeply offensive. they shrug off this language especially when they see it online. they see people being mean on facebook and twitter, they go on to say they think they are trying to be fu funny. we have a doctor to talk about this. we have talked about where young people commit suicide because of

cyber bullying. and others say it's kind of funny, they shrug it off. >> the social media and the internet in general is reducing people's empathy. 71% of the people polled in this survey say we throw out these mean-spirited we would say slurs against females, gays and others, we don't mean them. well, on the other side when they ask people, are you hurt by them, a very substantial minority of people say, yes, we are hurt. so the bottom line is that the people doing it have been somehow cleaved from their own behavior. they don't understand the impact of what they've done on others. jenna: going back to what you're seeing, you say the trend of lowering or a lack of efp

empathy in young today, what kind of traits would those people have. >> if you're communicating mostly by text and fashioning a program yourself and you feel free as this study shows to throw out very hurtful words to describe others, then when you're living your real life there is no reason to think that you're suddenly going to be sensitive towards others and appreciate their pain, and if you can't, if you can't appreciate the feelings and sentence teufts o sensitivities of others, you'll be unpredictable in relationships in terms of whether you could be, god forbid violent, whether you could overrun people's boundaries because you don't have a respect for what people feel. jenna: the internet allows you to connect with so many different people in so many different ways and what we're ao seeing is a lack of sensitivity even though you're exposed to so much more. what does that mean ten, 20

years from now? do you have any idea on that doctor. >> i think it is the number one public health problem we should be focused on. we see people interact in fake ways that distinguish their capacities to be good and decent to each other when they are really interacting in genuine settings. if that is what is happening you'll find people who don't think before they act in real life. jenna: do you think we are interact nothing a real way on television? is this a bad interaction or good interaction? >> i think that television too could be accused of this. but when we're talking jenna i feel very connected to you. jenna: fantastic, good answer, doctor, you're welcome back at any time. dr. ablow always nice to see you. >> take care. jon: fox news alert we'll take you to miami now where police have blocked off an area in basically downtown miami. there is a suspicious package near the bub defender's office,

in fact it's in the middle of their parking lot at 1320 northwest 14th street. it appears to be a duffle bag. police are a little -- well they think that this might be something that belonged to a homeless person. the homeless population really increases in miami when winter comes on because, well it's warm there, and it's a warm place to spend the winter. at any rate they think that's what it may be. they have the bomb squad in there to check it out. you can see the bomb robot there checking it out in the middle of the street. we'll keep you updated if anything comes of it. be back with more "happening now" in just a moment. [ man ] behind every business is a "what if."

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book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a siness. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. to legalzoom.com today and make your busins dream a reality. at legalzm.com put the laon your side. at the assignment desk. this is a story we are watching out of miami. jon told but a suspicious package found in a parking lot downtown miami, you can see the robot there on t scene trying

to figure out exactly what this is. this is a live shot from the rest bank where palestinians have been out in support of the idea of palestinian statehood, something that is being discussed in new york with the u.n. general assembly meeting. this is behind the scenes of the fox news google debate that is set to take place tomorrow night in orlando, florida. all the republican candidates taking your questions. you can go online to youtube back slash fox news and ask the questions you'd like to hear. the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. jenna: we have brand-new numbers as we take a look at the race for 2012. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. the prolonged economic downturn appears to be hurting voter's thoughts about president obama as he heeds for re-election. a new usa today gallop poll finds a full 80% of americans

believes the country is in a recession. meanwhile a new poll finds 49% definitely plan to vote against the president they say. the same poll finds most americans believes the president will not win a second term. 52% think he will lose to the republican candidate, whoever that might be. right now the republican candidates are preparing for their next big debate, it's tomorrow night in florida. our chief political correspondent carl cameron is of course right there with them live in orlando, carl. >> reporter: hi, jon. the republicans for now are focused on one another, not so much president obama. they have to pick a republican nominee, and to that end both mitt romney and rick perry are campaigning in southern florida this morning. mitt romney was in miami where he held a town hall meeting, as he has for several weeks now he went after rick perry who in his back "fed up" said that social security is unconstitutional and

should be turned over to the state. mitt romney made the case that mr. perry is wrong in thinks view and his idea is impracticable. here is a sampling of mitt romney's questions about how perry might do that. >> what would happen to the social security trust fund if you sent social security back to the states? how would they dived it? what happens by the way if people move from state to state to state? you consider all the people who have retired in florida, would it be florida's responsibility to meet the social security needs of everyone who comes to florida? >> reporter: mr. romney rattled off a whole rhetorical list of such questions trying to make the arguments that perry's proposal in miss book "fed up" that social security should be handled by the states is not doable. mr. romney argues with a few minor adjustments over time social security can be saved.

pey's campaign already responded that mr. romney himself in his own book of a couple of years ago referred to the possibility that social security would be a criminal enterprise if private sector people dipped into the social security trust fund the way the u.s. government has. the perry campaign thinks that mitt romney is crying crocodile tears and set aside the semantics and when it comes to the substance they recognize social security has solvency problems and is going to need an overhaul. jon: it's going to be an interesting debate to watch tomorrow night. thanks, carl. >> peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the united nations, if it were that easy it would have been accomplished by now. ultimately the israelis and the palestinians must live side-by-side. ultimately it is the israelis and the palestinians, not us who much reach agreement on issues that divide them. jenna: new reaction to the

president's address to the u.n. general assembly. that was late bit of it right there. the president appealing to palestinians not to push for statehood through a u.n. resolution, saying that palestinians deserve a state but it must go through negotiations with israel directly, eric shawn is live. >> reporter: no compromise. diplomatic authorities say that mahmoud abbas is intent on submitting his request for a palestinian state vote when he addresses the general assembly here on friday. within the last hour the president met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and they both stood firm on this issue against a palestinian vote. the president in his address to the general assembly this morning says that there is no substitute to direct negotiations and talks between the israelis and the palestinians to try and achieve the desired affect of a palestinian state. >> peace is hard work.

peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the united nations. if it were that easy it would have been accomplished by now. ultimately it is the israelis and the palestinians who must live side-by-side. ultimately it is the israelis and the palestinians, not us who must reach agreement on issues that divide them. >> reporter: the u.s. has threatened to veto a vote in the security council. meanwhile the president will meet with mahmoud abbas later on this afternoon. some reports say he will privately ask abbas to drop his move. he has not done that publicly, though. a former negotiator says in his view the president is double crossing the palestinians he says by blocking the security council vote. >> he's taking back his words, he is acting brutally again the palestinians. we are very much disappointed. we are very much disappointed.

>> reporter: well a vote in the security council could still take weeks or months from now, but with abbas calling for it on friday it remains to be seen if that move will be enough to satisfy the aspirations of the palestinian people. jenna back to you. jenna: a very interesting week indeed. eric shawn at the u.n., thank you. jon: of course the palestinian people are very much in support of a state and u.n. membership, and their rallies in support of that cause are turning violent. in the west bank thousands poured into downtown ramallah, there was plenty of excitement on display and anger over america's expected veto of their aspirations. leland vittert is live in ramallah for us right now. what is going on? >> reporter: jon, in just the past 20 minutes or so the battle lines have shifted. the palestinian youth has moved up here right next to the israeli check-point. you may be able to see some of the kids throwing rocks back

there where the israeli troops withdrew. earlier today we had a long, very long and at times very violent battle. it was a day that began relatively peacefully and certainly a day filled with a lot of anger. in ramallah's town scare two american flags burned to cheers and jeers from the crowd. that was the exception during a 10,000-person process rally celebration with kids let out of school to celebrate the coming u.n. vote. ten minutes down the road their jubilation turned to anger. this is the israeli front line. you see the soldiers behind the barbed wire here. up that hill is ramallah, you get an example of how much incoming fire the soldiers are taking, and the rocks thrown by the palestinian youth. there are teargas grenades and flash banks. the israeli soldiers have

decided to take charge and capture some palestinis. this is one of the palestinian youths that this these soldiers have been able to grab. they run up into the crowds, it's a risky situation. they have to run in past the checkpoints and front lines to bring these guys out. to give you an idea just how angry some of these palestinian youth are one of the kids that was hit by a rub irbullet from israeli soldiers earlier is back out throwing rocks again. we just talked to him here. the real concern is not a hundred kids throwing rocks but the thousands of people that you saw in the square earlier marching down this road here towards this check-point. will that happen? the palestinians have asked largely for peace. mahmoud abbas says all he wants is peace. will he be able to contain the bubbling up anger that exists in these territories one that expected u.s. veto comes on friday. back to you. jon: as we have seen in the past wars have been started by much smaller protests than this one.

leland vittert. thank you for that report. jenna: now fox news business alert. wall street is waiting to learn if fed chairman ben bernanke will take a move to boost the economy. the federal reserve finishing up two days of meetings in just about two hours from now, analysts think ben bernanke will announce a plan to lower rate for mortgages and loans. >> reporter: wall street is expecting the fed will announce an economic stimulus move it has not tried in 50 years. manipulating the $2.8 trillion balance sheet by selling some of its shorter term securities to buy longer term securities. that could pull down interest rates on longer term loans like mortgages. one former fed economist says this plan needs to be really big to really move interest rates lower. >> you have to do what we learned, i think is that to have a serious impact you have to do large amounts, like many

hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars. >> reporter: but joe ganon doubt it will be that big. maybe a couple hundred billion dollars over several months, maybe as a test. meantime republican leaders in congress don't want the fed to do anything right now, not this or any other stimulus moves. house speaker john boehner republican majority leader eric cantor. mitch mcconnell and his number two jon kyl fire *g firing off an extraordinary letter yesterday. it says, we submit that the board, the federal reserve board should resist further extraordinary intervention in the u.s. economy. it is not clear that the recent round of quantitative easing undertaken by the federal reserve has tpa sill tated economic growth or reduced the unemployment rate. jenna: and there is as you mentioned concern about that.

peter, thank you very much. we'll watch for that decision, that aouncement around 2:15 today. jon: the new young americans jailed in iran for more than two years are finally free and heading home. we have late breaking details on their release that has been so long in coming. also, a strange coincidence in the case of a murdered nursing student, it involves the woman who discovered her remains. and we are gearing up for the fox-google debate in florida, rick has some information for you from the web wall. >> reporter: 9pm tomorrow notice on fox tphaourbgs also streaming on youtube which is owned by google. this is the fox news-google debate. we've asked you to submit your questions and you have, thousands upon thousands of questions. batesville, arkansas coming in as the number one city in the country to submit questions for the debate. you can scroll down and see all these questions and you can weigh in and say whether or not you think these questions are good or not. you can even click on hottest to see what are the hottest topics

that people are talking about in sending these questions in for the gop candidates for president. there is still time for you to go on and vote. if the clock says up here only about 32 1/2 hours or so until the big debate tomorrow night on fox. we'll have more "happening now" after a quick break. don't go away. bud i'm stild stu. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth!

jon: new information on crime stories we are watching for you. jurors may hear a defendant's alleged confession in his murder trial for that brutal connecticut home invasion. komisarjevsky is accused of killing a connecticut mother and her two daughters in 2007. if convicted he faces the death penalty. the prosecution regs its case against a millionaire developer accused of murdering his wife in 2009. bob ward's defense team argues his wife, diane committed suicide. a strange twist, the volunteer who found the body of missing

nursing student michelle le is also the mother of a murdered girl who was killed by a registered sex offender in 2009. jenna: two americans held by iran for more than two years now are free reportedly that's what we here. shane bauer and josh fattal are on their way to the gulf state that is a u.s. ally that was very important in negotiating their release. the new men along with sara shourd were accused of spying on iran. they were convicted of that crime. claims the u.s. has called ridiculous. let's bring in p.j. crowley. here we are today, p.j. it's a little hard, and i'm sure it's hard for you. we don't have video of them stepping off the plane. i hope we have that to make sure they are free. what do you think is going

behind the scenes now. >> what's gone on today by reports is that oman has put up the one million dollar bail for josh fattal and shane bauer in the same way it did a year ago for sara shourd. the lawyer for the two hikers has been, you know, has been keeping us all informed about developments, but every indication is they've been released from prison and are on their way back and will make their way to the united states in a couple of days. jenna: we don't have diplomatic relations with iran, we don't have a dialog. what do you think was key to their release at this time? >> first and foremost you have switzerland which is our protecting power in tehran, and they conduct diplomacy on our behalf if necessary. a number of countries that that diplomatic arrangements with iran, iraq, arab emirates, and

others made sure iran knew it was important to the united states to get these kids back. jenna: this is no doubt a big story and very happy for the families and friends of these young americans. on another note, p.j. do you think in some ways it's a cover for really talking about the issues that we should be talking about when it comes to iran, the nuclear program, and what kind of threat the country poses to our country? do you think we are focused enough on that just in general? >> of course, we are focused on that. the president once again raised it in his remarks at the united nations a while ago and i think that is important, that is backdrop to this. two years ago as we were seeing iran come out of flawed elections, stolen elections and beginning to apply pressure on iran regarding its nuclear program unfortunately these kid became hostages or pawns in that larger battle.

and so -- and plus the element of this lack of diplomacy in other context we would have resolved in issue a longtime ago. even with north korea we are able to resolve americans who cross the border in a matter of months not a matter of years. but this is just a testament to the fact that since we have not had diplomatic relations with iran and suspicions have grown up so significantly over 30 years it just became that much harder to find a solution. jenna: we're going to have to wrap-up. do you see that changing at all? >> unfortunately not in the short term. this relationship is frozen. obviously we are still trying to apply considerable pressure to iran regarding its nuclear program. now others around the world are helping us with that, but i expect that for the time being we are in this status quo that is going to continue. jenna: it's an important reminder again as we celebrate the release of these two americans we don't want to forget the bigger picture behind the story.

p.j. it was nice to have your insight. thank you for joining us again. >> all right, jenna. jon: in california the millionaire pharmaceutical billionaire jonah shacknai, his son and girlfriend died under mysterious circumstances. the police cleared him in the investigation. he is asking investigators to review their findings, why? they are called the smoking guns in the government's gun-running sting scandal, newly uncovered secret recordings. we'll play them for you right here next. [ male announcer ] when it comes to saving energy, we're off to a good start. but now it'time to go to the next level. so let's do a little detective work. pick up what we need. roll out... caulk...and install. and pretty soon, we're seeing the fruits of our labor right there at our bottom line. more saving. moreoing.

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jon: a new twist in what is already a very strange case. the two deaths inside the mansion of pharmaceutical ceo jonah shacknai. he's asking the san diego

sheriff's department to renew the investigation which cleared him in the deaths of his girlfriend and his six-year-old son. rick folbaum is here with more. >> reporter: shacknai says it's the only way to silence all the rumors and speculation that continues to swirl about how his girlfriend actually died. you remember the sad and bizarre details, rebecca zahau's naked body found hanging from a balcony, her hands tied behind her back, her feet bound, just days before her millionaire by friend's six-year-old son fell down the stairs while she was baby sitting them. he would later die. first she killed herself or did she. snack r-r's brother finding the body apparently taking it down before calling the police. the sheriff's department saying that it was a suicide after their investigation, but because so many people still aren't sure shacknai says that investigation by the state attorney general is needed. we have not got even any comment from the attorney general's office to see if they are going to look into it. the sheriff's department says

they stand by their initial findings but they support shacknai's call for another investigation in case they might have missed anything, back to you. jon: strange story and a very sad one. rick folbaum changs. jenna: a federal gun running scandal just keeps getting more outrageous as every day comes and goes. new evidence the feds are being less than truthful about the operation. we have been tracking this all along. william. >> reporter: this comes from two hours of audio tapes recorded by the gun story croute he to sell the weapons to the cartels. that store's attorney and another whistle-blower are speaking out to fox news, they say the government lied and attempted to cover up this failed operation. >> they are either the biggest snitch in this industry or i'm working for you. >> reporter: that is andre howard speaking to the lead fta

agent in the fast and furious case. he secret lee taped hope mcales sister after becoming convinced the attf lied to him that they were stopping the guns he sold before help got to the cartels. >> he was acting under the direct supervision of the department of justice and atf. he thought he was making a difference and the people were being arrested and there were going to be indictments and prosecutions. >> reporter: larry gatos is howard's lawyer. he sold more than a thousand weapons to straw buyers, including those used to kill border patrol agent terry. >> terry's death brought a tremendous amount of i guess regret, sorrow, disappointment, discuss. >> reporter: larry alt speaking out for the first time after mcallister disparaged his family

in one of the recordings. he says he found three guns at the murder scene not two. >> there were three weapons. two of them came from the store. >> reporter: lawyer gatos said howard was set up by the fall guy by the atf chief. >> he thought i was helping the good nice and he had no way of knowing that those guns were going to crime scenes in the united states and mexico. >> reporter: the f.b.i. insists there was confusion out at the crime scene that there were only two guns. however, repeatedly in these tapes hope mcales sister implicates the f.b.i. and says they have major problems, referring they believe to this confidential informant that is deep into this case that provided the money to help move the guns, no comment on that from the f.b.i. jenna: we'll continue to ask those questions, william, thank you very much. jon: "forbes" releases its list of the richest people in

america. the "forbes" 400 list. if you want to be on it you have to have about a billion bucks in your piggy banks. who made it this year and some of the big names that dropped off. we'll be talking with the editor just ahead. .. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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[ gigi ] new nice 'n easy colorblend foam. my grocery bill isn't wasteful spending. my heart medication isn't some political game. our retirement isn't a simple budget line item. i worked hard. i paid into my medicare. and i earned my social security. now, instead of cutting waste and loopholes, washington wants to cut our benefits. that wasn't the agreement. join the members of aarp and tell washington to stop cuts to our medicare and social security benefits. jenna: a fox news alert. if you're just joining us right now. we've been covering the interesting and bizarre story out of michigan where there was a car explosion. we have no idea what actually caused it.

there's a look at a picture of the scene out in michigan, monroe, michigan, in fact. the atf is saying that a car bomb caused that blast. that explosion seriously injured a father and two children. you can tell by the road, it looks like a quiet, tree-lined road as it has been described. this is 20 minutes outside of toledo, ohio, or so, on the border in michigan. a quiet street. a car explodes. there is a man and two children injured. now the atf says it was a car bomb. what that is about and specifics of it we do not know anything yet. we'll look at wires to see if anything new came in. as we get more developments we'll tell you but a car bomb caused this blast in michigan early this morning. jon: two to america's election headquarters. republican presidential candidates are all in

florida for tomorrow night's fox news google political debate or heading in that direction. florida a critical state. president obama took it in 2008. how are florida voters leaning right now? shannon bream live in orlando with a look at that. shannon? >> reporter: jon, we're looking at independent voters. it is no secret they're key to winning presidential elections and that is especially true here in florida. in 2008, exit polls showed 52%. independent voters went with president obama helping him to win big. new numbers show us they're feeling bit sketch think how he is doing his job these days. 33% of independent voters here in florida approve the job the president is currently doing but 61% say they disapprove how he is performing. that's a lot for him to try to turnaround in the next year. we've been talking to folks all across the state who actually voted for the president in 2008 to find out how they're feeling this time around. most of them expressed some level of frustration or disappointment he has not been able to get more done.

for some of them that disappointment is enough to push them consider crossing the aisle, maybe voting for the gop nominee. but others say they are sticking with the man they voted for in 2008. >> i wanted to see the adversaries be defeated but it seems like nothing's really going on for us at this time. so, maybe somebody else will do the job better. >> i do think in his term that he had to kind of fix everything that was broken, and i do think that with this term coming up he will be able to make everything better, make improvements. >> reporter: now whoever wins the general election here in florida is a huge prize. 29 electoral votes. the last four presidential elections florida split twice for republican an twice for democrat including president obama. all four times those winners have gone on to win the white house. jon? jon: shannon bream there in florida. thank you. jenna: back in new york city the president says there's

no shortcut to peace in the middle east. he used his general assembly speech to discourage palestinian president mahmoud abbas from pursuing his bid for u.n. membership or recognition of the state of palestine but he stopped short directly calling on him to drop the plan completely. reena ninan is live at the u.n.. she has been talking to the palestinian president and has more for us now. >> reporter: hi, jenna. israeli politicians say this was incredibly fantastic pro-israeli speech by president obama but based on the body language on the palestinian delegation, at one point one member shook his president. the palestinian president had his hands on his head. this was a disaster for them. we caught up with the palestinian president on his flight from the middle east to the united nations. here is his thoughts on the situation. >> if americans veto the security council resolution what is the point in going through with it anyway. >> if they will vote, okay, they will vote and americans will give us veto.

it means that to retain back to our country, the, palestinians leadership. about the next step. >> what happens if in the security council they try to stall taking up the resolution or even going to a vote? >> if we can not go to the united nations, to whom we will complain? maybe the americans will use their veto. we will, repeat again and again. >> do you expect to see animosity towards the u.s. in the arab streets if u.s. vetos a resolution in the security council? >> i don't know but what can i assure everybody that security will stay as it is as will we will be under control. as far as i am the president of the palestinian people. >> reporter: it sure seems like it is the security council vote or bust for the palestinians. president obama will meet with abbas tonight at 6:00 p.m. jenna. jenna: we'll look forward to

the developments out of that meeting. thank you. jon: this just in. "forbes" magazine is out with its annual list of the richest americans, the fors 400 they call it. this year 70% of those on the list are entrepreneurs. that's an all-time high. who is on top? brews up ton is forbes managing editor and joins me now. a familiar name on the list. >> bill gates once again. 18th year in a row. jon: bill gates you say he doesn't have a lot of money in relative terms in microsoft anymore? >> most of his money is in private investment vehicle, cascade investments. he has been selling microsoft shares all along. >> while he is up about $5 billion the number two guy, warren buffett, is down about 6 billion. >> paying more in taxes but he has been down, berkshire hathaway, his big investment vehicle is down a little bit. he has been giving away as well to bill gates and his

foundation. jon: larry ellison, founder of oracle, number three. the koch brothers. the guy conservatives love to hate. george soros comes in at number 7. he is up almost $8 billion. >> we have a lot of new information on soros that cracked him into the top 10 for the first time. most of his money in his fund is his money turns out. not outside investors. jon: a couple members of walton family are in there as well. jim and alice, heirs of sam walton. if he hadn't split up the family fortune if he were still alive he would number one. >> by far. jon: in all likelihood. a bunch of newcomers on this look. >> if you start a social network called facebook you would be on the list. zuckerberg has been on the list. sean parker our cover boy is on the list and savrin who is out of the company but still a billionaire. jon: i only know them from the facebook movie, the social network movie. there is the real eduardo

savri. >> backers too. jim briar. jon: sean parker who founded napster and was featured in the movie is in there as well. >> yeah. $2 billion. jon: i'm curious do you ever get any calls from the guys say you got it wrong, i'm not wealthy? anybody ever complain about being on the list? >> a third of them do. a third want their numbers up and a third don't return our calls at all. jon: you do a lot of research to make sure the numbers are accurate? >> we spend half a year with team of 12 to 15 people. jon: bruce upbin. good to have you on. >> thanks, jon. jenna: dozens of people tied to mexico's violent drug war and organized crime found dead along the side of a mexican highway. the latest on that violence ahead. real estate market forcing many buyers to stay in their first homes much longer. what families are looking for in their starter homes

and what it means for the economy just ahead

jon: brand new information on breaking news from across the u.s. and around the world from inside our control room. police investigating a shocking escalation in mexico's drug war. witnesses say gunmen blocked a city street in eastern mexico and at gunpoint, dumped dozens of bodies into the road. law enforcement says the city sits in a major drug smuggling route. the georgia pardons board rejecting a request to reconsider the execution of a condemned inmate. convicted cop killer troy davis scheduled to be put to death tonight. tropical storm ophelia is getting stronger as it moves across the atlantic. the storm's maximum sustained winds increasing to nearly 60 miles an hour. much. jenna: now turning back to the economy, declining home prices putting many young families in desperate financial situations and really having a ripple effect on our economy overall. dan springer is taking a closer look. he is live in seattle.

hi, dan. >> reporter: we're seeing for example, that remodels are up because people are looking for more space because they are literally stuck in their first home, stuck because they owe more than its worth. a recent study by corelogic said 10.9 million mortgages are underwater and 2.5 million have less than equity. 25% of all homeowners are in negative or near negative mortgages. they can't get enough out of the sale of their home to buy the next one. that is the situation georgia and her husband are in. they bought a two bedroom condo, their starter home in 2006. now it is worth half what they paid. the plan had been to buy a second home a few years ago but that's not an option. >> it means delaying any kind of growing of the family. it means, you know, we don't get to have thanksgiving dinner over here yet in the tiny condo.

so that big sit-down dining room we envisioned that will not happen for a while. >> reporter: according to zillow home values nationwide have a median drop of 35%. that along withow interest rates are creating good buying opportunities for first-time buyers like tennis pro, chad smith. like many buyers are not viewing starter home the traditional way. historically they stay in the house three to five years. with slow depreciation predicted over next seven years, first-time buyers are looking for a place to grow their families over seven to nine years. >> today they're looking at houses more long term. they understand you can't buy a house this year and 24 months from now or three years from now we'll flip this into something bigger. >> reporter: agents say the traditional small starter home is being bought by single professionals and empty nest terse downsizing instead of traditional young couples looking for a place

to get in and move up in a couple years. jenna: that is an interesting twist. dan springer in seattle. >> funding the federal emergency management agency, the groups that come in with big check books after hurricanes and tornados, there is a big debate on pitol hill paying for disaster relief. why funding fema could be part of a much bigger battle. that debate coming up.

jenna: a fox news alert. we just told you about this car explosion we've been following so closely for you out in michigan. it happened late yesterday evening. and now we know, the atf says a car bomb caused this explosion. donald dawkins of the atf in detroit is joining us by the phone. donald, what do we know about this car bomb?

>> we're not sure. we're right in the middle of the investigation. what we do know it seriously injured an ad cult and two -- adult and two children. the children are in really serious condition right now and we have an active investigation going on. atf, michigan state police and monroe city police here in michigan, monroe, michigan. and we're trying to determine exactly what kind of explosive device it was, kind of put the pieces together. we're still going over the vehicle and trying to gather all the evidence we can from the vehicle. we are interviewing and reinterviewing and, we hope it will take us in the direction that we need to get in. jenna: some reports saying this is an attorney and his sons. can you confirm that for us? >> i can not confirm that. there are questions, so many things we're trying to keep close to the vest because that may factor into which way we go in this investigation. jenna: certainly understandable right now. our viewers want to be reassured whether or not this is terrorism? is there any indication that

terrorism is at work here? >> there's no indication at all that terrorism was involved. we heard that also concerning several different --, there is no indication, i can assure your public and your listeners and your viewers that there's no indication of terrorism at all at this time. jenna: we appreciate the tile. i know you're very busy today, donald. thanks so much for that information. we'll continue to follow this story. thank you. >> thank you. jon: well there's a growing debate over funding for fema, the federal emergency management agency and it's complicating efforts to pass a bill to keep the government running through nto some ofhe details now with vermont democrat peter welch and chief deputy whip and founder of the hurricane irene coalition. also georgia republican tom price is chairman of the house republican policy committee. two words, gentlemen, government shutdown. i thought we dealt with that a little while ago but those

two words are hanging over this discussion. gong man welch, can you explain why? >> the question whether we'll have requirement of a pay for to provide emergency relief. you know what will? i'm all for paying for everything inexcluding disaster relief but we have 435 different opinions how we should do it and we need help now. in vermont, our cities and towns, the roads are demolished and businesses are really damaged. some of the tight and very fiscally conservative municipal managers went out and borrowed money to get roads back in service for people to get from here to there. the legislatures in and towns will have to figure out how to come up with the local share. if you're house is on fire and your neighbor has a hose and it is a kind of a stick up. we have been there for others in this country. vermont really needs the help. jon: congressman price, you're on the ways and means committee, the budget committee as well. it's been a tough year as far as disasters go. there was hurricane irene.

there were the joplin tornados that did so many millions or maybe billions in damage. funding fema, fema, basically has run out of or run very low on cash, right? >> yes. look, this is a pretty simple series of questions, jon and the american people understand it. do we provide resources to be able to help our fellow citizens in times of crisis and in need? absolutely. should we pay for that with money that is provided for in the budget or should we go borrow more money and pay for that? the american people have spoken very loudly. you need to make certain you pay for these things. that is the proposal that we have. instead we see harry reid around democrats on the other side in the house as well as i guess the president who say no, we want to shut down the government and not move forward if they can't spend money, more money that we don't have. it is a pretty common sense series of questions. we believe we ought to be paying for these things. they don't. >> that's not right, tom. this is an act of god.

it is really totally separate thing from what your favorite spending program is. it might be a drought in texas or wildfires or drought in georgia. it is a hurricane in and a flood in vermont. we've got to come up with the money. but the money to help folks. in the pay-for, there's a proposal right now, on the pay-for is something he supports, i oppose. you know if we want to give me the right to say the pay-for, i might say take it out of afghanistan. that's the point. we can not let the budget politics get in the way of making an active congress remedy an act of god. jon: congressman, welch, it boils down to, as i understand it and correct me if i'm wrong, the republican proposal is to take the, what, $4.5 billion or so that you want to dump into fema, you want to take that from a energy department program to advance green energy cars. do i have that right? >> actually, it's about a billion and a half dollars sitting in a 2009 fund that

hasn't been spent. the rest and that would go for the billion dollars in 2011. this current time for fema. the money going forward, the $2.6 billion would come out of the budget cap that we all, that congress agreed to and the president signed in august of this year. the question is whether or not we're going to be stick to and be responsible spenders of hard-earned taxpayer money to washington or we'll blow up the budget whenever any crisis occurs. we believe we ought to help our fellow citizens without a doubt but we believe that ought to be done in the context of the budgetary numbers that already have been passed. jon: we'll leave the argument there. we'll certainly be watching it because again the words government shutdown are hovering over this if house and senate can't come to agreement how to get the fema funding done. congressman welch, congressman price. thanks for being with us today. >> thank you, jon. jenna: congress is investigating federal loans to now bankrupt solar manufacturer solyndra.

you heard that name a lot. the company executives plan to take the fifth for at the hearing. what is next for this investigation? we have a live report next. ♪

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>> thank you for joining us on this very busy wednesday. jenna: a lot going on. "america live" starts right now. megyn: and we start with a fox news alert, there is new controversy surrounding the solar energy company that burned through a half a billion dollars of your tax money, top executives at the now-bankrupt solyndra saying they will plead the fifth amendment when they appear on capitol hill this friday. welcome to "america live", everyone, i'm alisyn camarota in for megyn kelly today. a little more than a week ago solyndra's executives promised they would tell all to congressional investigators and now in a complete 180 they're refusing to answer lawmakers' questions, the fbi raided the company a couple of weeks ago, grabbing documents as investigators looked for how this taxpayer loan was